FCC plans to announce broadband agenda

The Federal Communications Commission plans to announce in coming weeks an agenda of proceedings stemming from the recommendations in the national broadband plan, an agency official said.

Phoebe Yang, general counsel of the FCC's broadband task force, said on Wednesday that the FCC will launch more than 40 FCC proceedings -- such as rule-making proposals and notices of inquiry -- in the next year to 18 months.

Some of those are already being planned and are underway, Yang said at a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution two days after the FCC released a broadband blueprint that aims to expand access, increase Internet speeds and shift airwaves to mobile services.

Its recommendations include boosting Internet speeds by up to 25 times the current average and freeing 500 megahertz of airwaves for mobile broadband services over the next decade.

It also seeks to refocus the Universal Services Fund (USF), a U.S. subsidy program for telephone access, and redirect billions of dollars for poor and rural areas to broadband services.

Details of the plan were released on Monday. It comes as the Internet increasingly delivers everything from voice service to movies, music and banking services.

FCC officials have said the United States lags countries in Europe and Asia in adoption rates and Internet speed.

Yang said that about half of the proceedings will deal with competition, including wholesale competition, devices and consumer transparency.

About a quarter of those proceedings will cover USF. Another quarter will cover public safety and other issues embodied in several of the recommendations, she said.